Scott Brown uses border fight in New Hampshire Senate push

New Hampshire Senate candidate Scott Brown, a Republican, pounced on incumbent Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s support for a bill to spend nearly $3 billion on housing and caring for the illegal immigrant children and families surging into Texas, saying it ... more >

NEWTON, N.H. — The political battle over the border surge of illegal immigrants is spilling beyond Capitol Hill and onto the campaign trail in the states — with a prime example now playing out here, where Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown is hoping to use the issue to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

In recent days, Mr. Brown, who previously represented Massachusetts in the Senate, has aired television and radio ads and launched an online petition calling on voters to tell President Obama and Mrs. Shaheen that their immigration policies that are “hurting this country.” And he’s stumped on the thorny issue a recent a meet-and-greet at a local Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Kingston.

“We need to secure the border once and for all,” Mr. Brown told reporters following an event here last week at HALO Maritime Defense Systems. “There is a history of the president and Sen. Shaheen and others not being strong on these border and amnesty issues.”

Mrs. Shaheen last week voted for a bill to spend nearly $3 billion on housing and caring for the illegal immigrant children and families surging into Texas.

But that legislation was blocked by Republicans and a handful of Democrats who said it did little to change the policies that are enticing illegal immigrants in the first place — chiefly a 2008 law that requires the government to give put the children through a long judicial process before they can be deported.

Mr. Brown pounced on Mrs. Shaheen’s vote for the bill, saying the proposal is a “travesty.”

“It’s not right, and it’s unfair to the millions of people who are playing by the rules and waiting patiently to enter the country legally,” he said.

Asked the following day whether she thinks Mr. Brown’s attacks will stick, Mrs. Shaheen told The Washington Times, “I think we need to address the challenge of immigration in this country.”

She said that’s why she backed last year’s broad immigration bill, which wouldn’t have addressed the child surge but would have legalized most illegal immigrants already in the U.S. — a bill that drew 14 Republican votes, including New Hampshire’s other senator, Republican Kelly Ayotte.

“That is what I voted for [the 2013 bill]. That is what Kelly voted for it and I am hopeful we can see the House take some action,” Mrs. Shaheen said before quickly jumping into a car.

Mrs. Shaheen’s allies, meanwhile, charge that Mr. Brown’s attacks smack of the desperation of a challenger trailing in the polls.

“His campaign is running negative ads, even attacking fellow Republican Kelly Ayotte’s position on comprehensive immigration reform,” said Julie McClain, spokesperson for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. “Facing an uncertain primary and a resistant New Hampshire public, Brown is frantic — and the biggest casualties this week were Kelly Ayotte and his own credibility.”

Far from the border

The immigration issue is popping up in other races far from the Mexican border, including Senate races in Iowa and elsewhere. But even some Republicans here suggest the attacks may not pay off for Mr. Brown.

“I’m sure the polling is on his side: Who is against having a secure border?” said Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire GOP. “But it’s a cynical play, and I’m disappointed in Brown for using this issue this way. Immigration is a complex issue with a lot of nuance, and border security is just one part of it. He knows that.”